News: John Burley welcomes overseas apprentice

Seventeen year old Alex Segalini got the chance to experience life as an apprentice in a totally different working environment, when he swapped his home town of Strasbourg in France for Rotherham recently.



Alex joined John Burley Ltd in Swinton as part of the European Exchange Programme, organised by Business & Education South Yorkshire (b&e) and was keen to find out how working life in England differed from that in France.

Alex said: "Working in Rotherham was very exciting; all the people were very friendly and made me feel part of the team. It was similar to working in France as there was a lot of work to do - I enjoy being busy! The only thing I didn't like was how cold it was during the two weeks!"

John Burley is a shelving and racking supplier which gave Alex the chance to try his hand at fabrication techniques, such as assembling several different shelving solutions including pallet racking, long span shelving and benching for a number of clients spread across Yorkshire and Tyneside.

John Burley director, Robert Burley, explains: "We wanted to get involved with the European Exchange Programme because we have seen the benefits with my nephew, who is currently in France working on a similar apprenticeship to what Alex is studying. He is having a very valuable experience and we wanted to be able to give a French Apprentice that same experience over here.

"Hopefully we have shown Alex that engineering is not a dull or a dirty job, but is a fast-paced exciting industry that has lots of opportunities for young people."

Joyce Tinker, Lead Manager at Business & Education South Yorkshire, added: "We would like to thank John Burley for hosting a second French Apprentice student at their factory. We have had great support from South Yorkshire businesses and the feedback we have had from the Apprentices has shown how worthwhile the whole project has been. We are looking forward to welcoming our next group of Apprentices in February."

Other Rotherham organisations invlived in the programme include Newburgh Engineering, Dearne valley College and RCAT.

John Burley website
b&esy website
Rotherham

Images: b&e sy